Hadacol

Hadacol was a patent medicine marketed as a vitamin supplement. Its principal attraction, however, was that it contained 12 percent alcohol (listed on the tonic bottle's label as a "preservative"), which made it quite popular in the dry counties of the southern United States. It was the product of four-term Louisiana state Senator Dudley J. LeBlanc (1894-1971), a Democrat from Abbeville in Vermilion Parish. He was not a medical doctor, nor a registered pharmacist, but had a strong talent for self-promotion. Time Magazine once described him as "...a stem-winding salesman who knows every razzle-dazzle switch in the pitchman's trade". [1]

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Origins

LeBlanc conceived the idea that became "Hadacol" in New Orleans, when he injured a foot. He asked a doctor to give him medication for pain: then he found that what the doctor gave him was a B-vitamin elixir, which he proposed to duplicate with a few changes and market it to a mass consumer market (Years later, reports arose that LeBlanc offered the doctor a share of the business, who refused. On a return visit, LeBlanc allegedly stole a bottle of the medicine when the nurse had left the room). [2] LeBlanc said that his research showed that multivitamins taken collectively would yield greater results than a single vitamin for a specific problem.

Dosage

The label on the tonic's bottle clearly stated that the recommended dosage (1 tablespoonful taken 4 times a day) was to be taken "...in a 1/2 glass of water after meals and before retiring". However, some pharmacies in dry counties were known to sell it by the shot-glass. In Northbrook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, sales of Hadacol were limited to liquor stores. ^[1]

One of the tonic's unusual ingredients, "Diluted Acid Hydrochloric", is what is known as a "hydrochloric wash": a heavily diluted form of the acid that opens the arteries and allows the body's quicker absorption of the other ingredients, including the 12 percent alcohol "preservative".

Promotion

LeBlanc created the name "Hadacol" from his former business, the Happy Day Company, maker of Happy Day Headache Powders (which had been seized by the FDA) and Dixie Dew Cough Syrup. "Happy" became "HA", "Days" became "DA," "Company" became "CO", and his own last name "LeBlanc" provided the "L". Hence the created named was "Hadacol." ^[2] However, when LeBlanc was asked about the name, he would often joke, "Well, I hadda' call (Hadacol) it something!"

A two-page advertisement for Hadacol appeared in the centerfold of the 1951 edition of Grier's Almanac, an annual publication marketed to farmers in the Southern USA. The ad's headline read (in very large type):

• Don't Be Satisfied With Symptomatic Relief! It's Possible to RELIEVE THE CAUSE OF YOUR AILMENTS When Lack Of Vitamins B1, B2, Iron and Niacin Cause Stomach Disturbances, Gas, Heartburn, Indigestion, Nagging Aches and Pains, and Certain Nervous Disorders.

The ad continued with testimonials and a glowing plug for Senator LeBlanc, stressing the curative powers of Hadacol for a number of ailments "...due to lack of Vitamins B1, B2, Iron and Niacin".

LeBlanc promoted the tonic as a "Dietary Supplement" instead of a medicine, stating that it was "...formulated as an Aid to Nature in rebuilding the Pep, Strength and Energy of Buoyant Health when the System is deficient in the Vitamins and Minerals found in this Tonic..."[3]

The American Medical Association was not as appreciative. In an official press release in 1951, the AMA stated, "It is hoped that no doctor will be uncritical enough to join in the promotion of Hadacol. It is difficult to imagine how one could do himself or his profession greater harm from the standpoint of the abuse of the trust of a patient suffering from any condition. Hadacol is not a specific medication. It is not even a specific preventive measure." [4]

LeBlanc flooded the airwaves with testimonials to the powers of the seemingly miraculous (yet foul tasting) brown liquid and turned the jingle called "Hadacol Boogie" into a popular recording. Promotional items included various flyers, signs and clocks, a "Captain Hadacol" comic book, an almanac, plastic thimbles printed with the Hadacol logo, glasses used for taking the diluted mixture, and a stamped metal token redeemable for 25 cents towards the purchase of any bottle of Hadacol (LeBlanc brazenly placed his own portrait on the front of the token, and the trademarked logo on the back). These items, along with the Hadacol bottles and the boxes they were packaged in, are now much sought-after items, and fetch high prices among collectors of Southern memorabilia and medical quackery.

In 1950, LeBlanc offered a handsome financial incentive to anyone who could provide him with a parrot that was trained to say "Polly wants Hadacol!" The parrot was to be exhibited at promotions. The offer included the following:

• The owner of such a bird, if selected, will be given a reasonable compensation on a contract basis. The owner and the parrot will travel in a limousine with the parrot's name engraved in gold on the door and will stay only at the best hotels. The parrot will be furnished a gold cage and its life insured. The parrot will visit large drugstores, perform at conventions, etc., and may be presented on radio and television. The Le Blanc Corporation has a triple A high credit rating.[5]

The Hadacol Caravan

LeBlanc was an entrepreneur in other areas too, but it is Hadacol that made him famous outside Louisiana. For his "Hadacol Caravan" touring shows (the last of the big-time "medicine shows"), LeBlanc brought in Hollywood celebrities, including such luminaries as Milton Berle, Lucille Ball, Mickey Rooney, Bob Hope, Cesar Romero, Dorothy Lamour, Carmen Miranda, Minnie Pearl, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Judy Garland, Jack Dempsey, Chico Marx, Hank Williams and Jimmy Cagney to help him market the product. He also sponsored a separate touring show featuring notable Jazz and Blues musicians to attract Black customers. Admission to the Hadacol gala was two Hadacol boxtops for adults, one for children (Considering that the 8 ounce bottle cost $1.25 and the "family size" 24 ounce bottle cost $3.50 each during the late 1940's, this was not cheap). Sales of the tonic at the shows was brisk.

According to musician Weldon "Big Bill" Lister, who performed in the Hadacol Caravan, "The only way you could get into that show was with a Hadacol boxtop, And believe me, we played to crowds of ten, twelve thousand people a night. Back in those days there wasn't many auditoriums that would hold that many people. We played ball parks, race tracks - you know anywhere where they had enough big bleachers to handle those kind of crowds." The final show was on 17 September 1951.[6]

Downfall

In a 15-month period ending in March 1951, LeBlanc sold more than $3,600,000 worth of the tonic. In another six months, after LeBlanc sold his interest of the LeBlanc Corporation (Hadacol's parent company) to investors for $8,200,000 [7] [8], the enterprise collapsed under the weight of debtors. It was discovered all too late that LeBlanc was spending more for advertising by that point than he was taking in as receipts (turning its $3,600,000 profit into a $1,800,000 second-quarter loss), had concealed both $2,000,000 in unpaid bills and a $656,151 tax debt, and another $2,000,000, listed in the ledgers as "Accounts Receivable", were cases of the tonic out on consignment, much of which was being shipped back [9]. In an official court statement, the Federal Trade Commission stated that the publicity behind the tonic was "false, misleading and deceptive in representing the nostrum as an effective treatment and cure for scores of ailments and diseases." The ensuing bad publicity played a contributing factor to LeBlanc losing a Gubernatorial election, and effectively halted his future chances for Governor of Louisiana.

Martin Gardner's In the Name of Science (1952) mentions an interview that LeBlanc gave on Groucho Marx's radio program:

• When Groucho asked him what Hadacol was good for, LeBlanc gave an answer of startling honesty. "It was good," the senator said, "for five and a half million for me last year."

Today, the name "Hadacol" has become synonymous with any panaceas or "cure-alls" of dubious origin.

Trivia

• A capsule version of Hadacol was briefly produced, consisting solely of a B-Vitamin and mineral mixture.
• In 1954, after the Hadacol fiasco, LeBlanc tried to re-enter the patent medicine market with a lemon flavored non-alcoholic vitamin tonic named "Kary-On". [10] Unlike Hadacol, it quickly vanished from production.
• In 1976, "Hadacol" Multi-vitamins were distributed by the Atlanta, Georgia based "Hadacol Corporation" in an unsuccessful attempt to revive the brand name.
• Paul Schrader wrote an (as of yet) unproduced script entitled Eight Scenes from the Life of Hank Wlliams. It includes a sequence on his performances with the Hadacol Caravan. [11]

Influences

• Hadacol was the subject of several Country, R&B and Cajun tunes of the time, such as "Hadacol Boogie" which was covered by a number of musical acts (notably Bill Nettles and His Dixie Blue Boys and, more recently, Jerry Lee Lewis), "Hadacol (That's All)" by the Treniers, "Hadacol Bounce",written and recorded by Bill Nettles was performed also by Professor Longhair, "Drinkin' Hadacol" by "Little Willie" Littlefield, "Everybody Loves That Hadacol" by Tiny Hill and His Orchestra, "Valse de Hadacol" by Cajun musician/composer Harry Choates and "Hadacol Corners" by Slim Willet (the B-Side of the recording was the soon-to-be classic "Don't Let the Stars Get In Your Eyes").
• In the late 1990's, the American Country Rock band "Big Iron", seeking a more Country themed image, changed the band's name to "Hadacol" [12]. The cover of their 1999 debut CD, Better Than This, is based on the label used on the tonic bottles. Another music group, a Canadian Rockabilly quintet named "The Twilighters", changed their name to "The Hadacol Cowboys" [13].
• In 1948, Blues pianist Elmore "Elmo" Nixon made his debut as a "front man" when he recorded two songs under the name "Elmore Nix and the Hadacol Boys". [14] [15]
• In 2005, Brent Green created an animated short entitled Hadacol Christmas. The animator describes the thread-bare 12 minute film this way: "Santa Claus invents Christmas with a belly full of cough syrup and a head full of dying crows." [16]. Mr. Green posted the film on YouTube in two parts (Part 1 Part 2).
• The town of Midkiff, in Upton County, Texas was supposedly to have been named "Hadacol Corner", but the U.S. Postal Service objected to the name (presumably on the grounds of a registered brand name being used for the name of a town) [17] [18].
• "Hadacol Boogie" was covered in 2006 on Jerry Lee Lewis' "Last Man Standing" album. Jerry Lee was joined on the cut by the bluesman Buddy Guy, also a native of Louisiana.

Listen to

• "Valse de Hadacol" by Leroy "Happy Fats" LeBlanc (no relation to Dudley LeBlanc) at Cajun Music mp3

References